Vehicle-wheel.



"1.. R. WBAfVBR.

VEHICLE WHEEL. AVPPLIGATION FILED PEB.17,1910.

Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. R. WEAVER.

' VEHICLE WHEEL. APPLICATION PILED r1:13.117.191o,

1,053,332. 4 Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

YAJLI'JIN R. WEAVER, OF BALESVILLE, ARKAS vnnicnnwnnnr..

Specification of Letters Patent.

rar-tenten rei. is. ist?.

Application filed February 17, 1910. Serie No. er,

To all @ahoga t may concern: f

Bc it known that I, ALLEN It. lnAvnn. a citizen of the United States, residing at atesville, in the county of Independence and State of Arkansas, have invented a certain new and useful VehiclefWheel, of which.

the tolloiving is a specification,r reference being hadv therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to vehicle wheels, the object ot the invention being to provide a practical and durable substitute for the ordinary rubber pneumatic tire now in com mon use, the imprm'ementsbeing applicable to any ordinary vehicle Wheel and the construction thereof reducing to a minimum the liability to puncture the tire, the danger of puncturing being practically eliminated andN the Wear and tear on the tire as a whole reduced to a minimum.

With the above and other objects in view7 the nature of which will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists `in the novel construction,I combina tion and arrangement of parts herein fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :wligure l' is a side elevation showing the improved tire applied to a vehicle Wheel, said Viewv being partly broken out in section to' better illustrate the --construction of the tire and the relation thereof to the wheel.' Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section on the line X-X of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is also a `vertical cross section on the line Y-Y of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a plan fview of a fragment of the flexible apron or guard. Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross section-taken. in line With the center of one ofthe pistons, showing the arrangement of the pump mechanism. Fig. (i is `a cross section on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 isa side elevation. ot' one ot' the spokes of the Wheel, the same being partly broken away in section. Fie; 8' is a detail View of one ot the guard reinforcing straps.

Referring to the drawings, l designates the hub of an ordinary Wheel, 2 the spokes thercot, 3 the wheel. rim or telly and/l what will be hereinafter termed the inner tire.

The construction and arrangementoi the parts just described are of the common and usual form. The improved tire embodies an annular tire bodv 5 which is Vformed at intervals with cylinders or piston chambers 6. Any desired nim-dier of these piston chambers in tie outer sides olf the danges 4mav be provided and they are all connected or placed in communication with each other by means ot pressure equalizing circumfer ential passages or air ducts so that a, comu mon pressure may be maintained in all of the piston chambers.

Mounted to reciprocate in each piston chamber is a piston 8 provided with the usual piston rings 9 to secure a tight lit and joint and each piston is provided with a rod lO'Which extends radially inward with respect to the axis of the wheel an passes slidably through a guide bushing ll which is threaded into the inner end et the pistou chamber as clearly shown in the drawings and provided' with a suitable 'number of Spanner sockets l? so that said bushing may beremoved and'r'replaced with the aid of a 'Spanner or other suitable.implement, The

inner tire Ll is supported, as clearly illustrated in Figs. L2 and 3, upon 'the inner extremities ot' all ot' the piston rods 10.

The tire body 5 is provided with oppo-` wheel and prevent the spokes fromtearing' or injuring the guard. The guard is sustained in Working position by bowed rein orcinghands or straps 18 extending transversely thereof. as in Fig. a, and adapted to titi titi

carr rollers lwhich travel 1n grooves if The guard is provided at intervals with 'spoke orifices 20 from Ywhich slits extend outward to one edge of the guard asshown in Fig. 4 to enable the guard to be fitted to the spokes and fastened to the langes and if de- -s1red,`comple1nental fasteners 22 may be provided at opposite sides of the slits 2l to allow said slits to be closed and fastened to the guard when in place. y

23 designates an air inlet or inflating passage which leads into the pressure equalizing passage 7 and said passage may be closed at its outer extremity nymmeans ot'. a suitable irc check valve 24, thus allowing for forcing air into the piston chamber and the eqn-aliz- Aing passages under the desired pressure to kae i form the necessary support for the wheel `and the load imposed thereon.

1f desired, a tread section 25 of any suitable material such as steel or rubber may be applied to the outer wearing face of the tire according to the desire of the manufacturer, the same being supported by a rim 13.

When there is no. load on the inner section of the wheel, the inner and outer sections are in concentric relation and the air under compression in the cylinders of the outerv that `there' will be no change in the position of the piston at the top of the wheel as the inner section of' the wheel merely moves away from', the stem 10 vof such piston, which is, for the time being, at its extreme inner position. Obviously, when the piston at the bottom ofthe wheelmoves, the air is compressed and forms a cushion.

- Under the A'preferred embodiment-of this lnvent-ionvcer'tain of the pistons are forme-d l asshown in the enlarged view, Fig. 5. -That is to say, the pistons are provided with central bores 2G which lead entirely through' the piston and through the rod thereof, the

Ninner end of the bore being normally held closed by means of a foot check valve 27.A

Mounted to reciprocate in the bore 26 is a hollow or tubular plunger 28, the inner end of which extends beyond the inner end of the pistonrod 10 and bears against the inner tire 4 above referred to. In order to insure the admission of air to the hollow plunger 28, the inner extremity of said plun-p gerisnotched as shown at 29 where it bears against the inner tire 4. At the outer end of the' tubular plunger 28 is another plunger valve 3O'Which opens as the plunger moves inward and thereby admits air to the space between the valves 27 and 30, the valve'27 opening in the inward movement of the piston and closing automatically in the outward movement thereof, the device thus aeting'as an air compressor for compressing air in the piston chambers 6 and the equalizing pasl:sages 7. At one side the hollow plunger 28 is provided with a guide pin r key 31 which Aworks 1n a spring containing pocket or groove 32 in the piston rod 10.- A plunger spring 33 is arranged in the pocket 32 andl exerts its pressure against the pin 31 to re-` tract or thrust the hollow plunger 28 inward or toward the center of the wheel.,

34 designates the plug held in place by a screw 35 or its equivalent to retain the spring 33 in place and limit the inward movement of the pin 31` and thereby the corresponding movement of the plunger 28. 37 designates a. pressure regulating piston mounted in a small piston chamber in the -outer face ofV the piston 8. Behind the pis ton 37 is a back spring 38 and back ofthe spring is a spring seat 39 in the form of a disk against the. center of which bears a pressure regulating screw 4() by the adjustment of which the spring 38 vis made more or less compressed to resist to a greater or lesser degree the movement of the pressure regulating piston 37.

41 designates alstem which extends from the piston 37 through a guide opening in the piston rod 10 and is provided at its extremity with a wedge 42 which operates on a transversely extending slide or latch pin 43. This latch pin 43 is adapted to enter a notch 44 in the adjacent side of the hol low plunger 28 when said plunger is at the outward limit of its movement` as will be readily understriod from Fig. e. The notch 44 is rounded so as to pass the pin 43 outward when pressure forces the plunger 2S inward.

lt is also withinv` the scope of this invention to provide the spokes as shown in Fig. 7 with central longitudinal air passages 45 while thc inner tire 4 is' also provided with a registering opening 46 communicating wit-h the open end of the plunger 28. The

passage 45 opens out laterally through tlie spoke at any suitable point as shown in Fig. 7 and receives a nipple 47 upon which is swiveled or loosely hung an air inlet nozzle 48, the receiving end of which usually hangs pendant so as to readily admit. air while excluding dirt and water.

Then the piston 8 is at the top pf the wheel or farthestfrom the surface en which the wheel is resting, the wheel will not rest against it and the spring will throw the 'plunger 28 inward and airwill enter the.

piston chamber through the hollow plunger and find its way past the Valves 27 and 30. As the wheel turnsand weight is brought to bear on the plunger 28, said plunger wil-l move outward, toward the tread surface of the tire and will force the piston outward thereby compressing air in the piston cham ber, the air passing through the equalizing passages 7 and thereby obtaininygsan equal or uniform pressure of air through all the piston chambers 'and distributing assages. lWhen the desired pressure is rea@ ed, the regulating piston 37 is forced against the action "of the back spring 38 with a result that, through the coperation of the' wedge 42 and thelatch pin 43, said plunger is locked thus preventing any lfurther complssion of air in the piston chambers. A. en the air pressure drops below a predetermined point which may be regulated by the strength of the spring 38, the pressure regulating piston 37 will move in the opposite direction under the stress of the spring 38 thereby releasing the latch pin 43 and allowing the plunger 28 to be thrown again in operation.'

It will, of course, b'e understood that the tire may bemade in various sizes, Widths and diameters and the piston chambers may be made of a size commensurate with the weight to .be imposed upon the Wheel on which the tire is mounted and by means of the mechanism described any desired pressure may he obtained which is found necessary for the eiicient support of the wheel and its load.

Lubricating oil may be introduced through the passage 23 hereinabove described so as to thoroughly lubricate the moving parts of the mechanism hereinabove described for the purpose of reducing wear thereon to a minimum and increasing the life and durability of the tire as a whole.

What is claimed is 1. A wheel comprisin two non-yielding concentric sections space apart, cylinders in one section connected together for holding an electric medium under pressure, pistons in the cylinders, and vstems on the pistons extending out of the cylinders of the one section and engaging the other section, the

piston stems being of such length that the side of every piston opposite from that on which the said medium acts will bear against the end of its cylinder when .the two sections are in concentric relation.

2. A wheel comprising two non-yielding concentric sections, the inner section being of such external diameter as to be out of contact with the outer section throughoutv tion, and conduits connecting the cylinders together whereby the pressure in all the `cylinders is constantly equal.

with the inner sect-ion when the two sections y 4ofthe wheel are in concentric relation, conduits connecting the cylinders together whereby the pressuret in all the cylinders is constantly e ual, and means at the sides of one section an the other section for forming the sole means for preventing relative axial displacement of the sections: and permitting relative eccentric movement of the sections.

4. Al wheel comprising inner and outer annular' sections, interconnecting cylinders in the outer section, pistons in the cylinders, inwardly-extending stems on the pistons having their inner ends only contacting with the periphery of the inner section whereby the inner section can be moved laterally from theouter section, and means for retaining the inner section within theconcentric relation, and means for limiting' the inward movement ofthe pistons to hol the stem of the piston at the top of the wheel out of contact with the inner section when the latter is eccentric tothe outer section.

In testimon'y whereof I aix my vsignaturev in-presence of two vvltnesses.V

f ALLEN R. WEAVER.

Witnesses:

GEO. L. BEVENS, W. J. WA-RD.

extending over the sides of l 

